Twelve, Twenty-One, Twelve
by 1arigato
Summary: Fate united roots into a trunk, but the Templars, Juno, and time cut off all branches until only two remained. Desmond's blood had always been rich in history, but what he didn't know was that he was no exception to making it. The focus was never a family tree; it was the paths Desmond's ancestors and Desmond himself had and would take. The two branches he had left? To live or die.


**Twelve, Twenty-One, Twelve**

An Apple made change possible, but Adam and Eve's banishment started it all.  
Humanity would start a fight, and the First Civilisation would eventually fall.  
Centuries down the road, humans and the half-breeds would hear  
Of objects that belonged to deities and brought knowledge and fear.

But there were others who sought power, and wanted the artefacts.  
They bore red crosses and western tongues, and stormed the Holy Land.  
Both parties claimed thoughts of peace, but one wanted control and order.  
Soon the sides were called Templar and Assassin, and they aimed to kill each other.

The Assassins followed their Mentor, until he proved to be a liar.  
He fell for temptation like Adam and Eve, so they looked to Altaïr.  
For all his years he laid the foundation, for others to build upon.  
Yet his work was destined to scatter, from Istanbul to Rome.

For hundreds of years, pages would wait to reunite into the Codex.  
The Apple had vanished as well, when came a man named Ezio Auditore.  
Revenge initially drove him, but friends would make him soften.  
He went beneath the Vatican and discovered he was a prophet.

Piece by piece and clue by clue, he came to finish Altaïr's special book.  
Templars would come to hinder him, but he used a blade fused with a hook.  
When he found a skeleton, he understood there was still work to be done.  
A name flashed in his mind, and he spoke aloud to Desmond.

For centuries no one would know if the prophet's message was heard,  
But Ezio was not the last great assassin — no, there was another.  
In America would rise a scarless man surrounded by conflict.  
His father led the Templars; Connor would become an Assassin.

They knew they couldn't trust each other, but secretly they hoped  
The family they always wanted would have a place in the world.  
But like the root of the Templar-Assassin struggle, they could not get along.  
The father believed in order — the son, in equal freedom.

They had their fight, they drew their blades, but fate already had a plan.  
Desmond must exist — thus concluded the story of Haytham.  
Connor was tough like a wolf, and he emotionlessly watched his father die  
but Ratohnhake:ton had a life that was scratched, and he bid his dad goodbye.

Finally, the twenty-first century, where a bartender would give fake names.  
He hid well from the Assassins, but a fingerprint gave him away.  
The Templars found him first and used his family tree to find,  
But the Pieces of Eden would not reveal themselves until Desmond lived one life.

He escaped his prison, but the Templars weren't just called Abstergo.  
One Lucy Stillman convinced everyone Desmond must learn skills from Ezio.  
He absorbed them quickly, but then came Templars and the Bleeding Effect.  
After fleeing, everything seemed to settle down, until Desmond stabbed Lucy dead.

The triple agent was permanently gone, thanks to the Apple and Juno,  
But Desmond's delicate mind shattered, and he fell into a coma.  
Three-fourths crazy and halfway dead, he met his predecessor.  
He learned he must see all of Altaïr and Ezio's lives until he saw no more.

Back in north-eastern America, where his and Connor's journeys began,  
Desmond lived another life and did missions with his own hands.  
Daniel Cross, Subject 4, chased him around the hemisphere.  
The sleeping agent met his end when Desmond abandoned his fear.

The assassin slid his blade from Daniel's neck, and he looked above.  
He agreed with number Four; he just wanted to go home.  
The Apple was reclaimed, and Desmond completed his mission.  
Two Miles returned to the buried Temple; they were done with killing.

In there, the Assassins listened, but the truth brought them pain.  
The First Civilisation enslaved humanity, and Juno would do the same.  
Like Altaïr betrayed by his Mentor, the Assassins were completely fooled.  
Juno had played for time and manipulated Desmond to be her tool.

Humans were made to serve, so why not make things right?  
No one shared Juno's thoughts, but they were running out of time.  
Where Ezio listened to Minerva, Desmond disagreed.  
He could not doom the Earth to burn and let the cycle repeat.

The savior sent his friends away and bid his father goodbye.  
Where Connor outlived his dad, Desmond chose to die.  
He stepped up to the pedestal, and with a burst of light he fell.  
The world was bought more time that day, on twelve, twenty-one, twelve.


End file.
